Congratulations and thanks to all our fencers for their superb manners and behaviour at the Australian Under-15 and the Australian/Oceanic Cadet Championships. You were a credit to yourselves, your families and to Fencing New Zealand in the way you behaved both on and off the piste. I had many compliments on your behaviour and sportsmanship from the Australian parents and organisers.

Congratulations on your results. Some of you may not have achieved as well as you or your coaches may have hoped but I am sure that your coaches will discuss that with you. No doubt they will encourage you to increase your levels of fitness, to improve your eating habits in preparation for and at competitions. They will also, no doubt, suggest greater concentration on technique. Fencing New Zealand is proposing to run a series of training camps for this age-group next year in which we will concentrate on all these things plus some tactical work and an improved knowledge of fencing rules. If you are serious about your fencing the camps are almost a must and we will keep you informed of our plans.

I would also like to thank, very much, the coaches (Daniel Chan, Anya Kaminyana, Vik Manuge, Fi McMillan) for all the hard work they did warming up the fencers and supporting them during the competition. Many thanks too to the parents for all they did to keep the fencers fed, watered and supported. Fi McMillan, both Officer parents, Wendy Boyce, Keziah McNamara, both Lee parents, Nelly Dyson and Sam Ramsay.

Main thanks are due to Ken Claridge. He was a wonderful Manager and did a fantastic job of ensuring that everyone was in the right place at the right time. We were a cohesive and happy team. While that is a reflection of what fantastic group of people we had, it was also a result of the hard work Ken put in on our behalves. We were very fortunate that he was prepared to give up his family holiday and we should be very grateful to Wendy and her parents that they were prepared to share him with us.

Our thanks too to the Australian Fencing Federation, especially Queensland Fencing Association and the competition organisers, for another highly successful and enjoyable competition.

Susan

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